Digital Government

Langston or Gilligan for Defense CIO

I'm picking up hints that Dr. Marv Langston, <a href=http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Jun1997/m06121997_m100-97.html>appointed</a> the Navy's first chief information officer in 1997 and <a href=http://www.gilligangroupinc.com/about/john-gilligan-biography.html>John Gilligan</a>, who served as Air Force CIO from 2000-2005, are candidates for the Defense Department CIO slot, vacant since John Grimes <a href=http://whatsbrewin.nextgov.com/2009/05/grimes_has_left_the_building.php>left the job</a> last month.

Digital Government

Senate directs Defense to track soldiers injured by explosions

System will follow those hurt by blasts as a way to identify and diagnose those who may develop complications, including psychological disorders, years later.

Modernization

Delayed launches of communications satellites threatens troops

Some systems combat troops in Iraq and Afghanistan rely on are failing, and replacements are months away.

Digital Government

Grimes Has Left the Building . . .

. . . and the Obama administration hasn't yet named a replacement for him as assistant secretary of Defense for networks and information integration - in other words, the chief information officer.

Digital Government

. . . But Baker IS in the Building . . .

. . . after being sworn in today as the new assistant secretary for information and technology and chief information officer at the Veterans Affairs Department headquarters on Vermont Avenue. He will need to tackle a range of problems, including the outsourcing of numerous VA IT development projects to the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command.

Digital Government

RFID Tracking the DIA Folks

Before employees who labor away in the Darth Vader building at Bolling Air Force Base in Washington get too excited, the Defense Intelligence Agency is <a href=https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=cff66a119515afa7a27e81bed38e9da8&tab=core&_cview=0&cck=1&au=&ck=>looking</a> to use Radio Frequency Identification chips to track its personnel -- in emergency situations ONLY, not every minute of their lives.

Digital Government

Seeking Athena-like Wisdom

The intelligence community's research outfit, the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA), <a href=https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&tab=core&id=bcfa0a11aa14bdd4dac7dfe6cd79e9a4>wants to hear</a> from companies that can do work on its Top Secret Athena program, which focuses on <a href=https://www.fbo.gov/?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=7c980be813de2bc2f8c94ce010344a4b&tab=core&_cview=1>Computer Network Operations</a>.

Digital Government

HERBB's Not Here

I've spent the past two work days attempting -- to no avail -- to access documents on an upcoming procurement on the Hanscom [Mass.] Air Force Base Electronic Request for Proposals Bulletin Board, known as <a href=http://www.herbb.hanscom.af.mil/>HERBB</a>, which the Air Force Electronic Systems Center operates.

Digital Government

Rethinking Video Conferencing

A couple of years ago, the Defense Information Systems Agency cranked up a <a href=https://www.fbo.gov/index?tab=core&s=opportunity&mode=form&id=e0df5e4191fab7cf3d34369fba79a69e&cck=1&au=&ck=>procurement</a> for the operation and maintenance of its video conferencing hubs scattered nationwide. The sites were essentially television studios for generals and other top Defense Department officials, but today, practically everyone has a TV studio attached to their computer - a camera and a microphone.

Digital Government

San Antonio Wins Cyber Sweepstakes

The Air Force has selected Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio as the preferred headquarters for its cyber command, the 24th Air Force, pending an environmental review. The decision really puzzles me.

Digital Government

Sailors Love NMCI; Marines Not So Much

Sailors just love the Navy Marine Corps Intranet, according to the latest <a href=http://www.donhq.navy.mil/aausn/ContentView.aspx?ID=513>quarterly survey</a> conducted by the Navy Department and contract-holder EDS, although overall Marine satisfaction dipped 2 percentage points in the quarter ended March 31.

Digital Government

Defense declares war on spam in bid to protect networks

DISA asks companies for applications that can scan 50 million e-mails a day coming into 5 million users, a requirement that could present management challenges.

Digital Government

The Good News and Bad News

First, the good news. The Senate Veterans Affairs Committee today unanimously <a href= http://veterans.senate.gov/press-releases.cfm?action=release.display&release_id=9bd6e171-5de3-4eed-982d-99335b6d7aff_>approved the nomination</a> of Roger Baker as assistant secretary for information and technology and chief information officer at the Veterans Affairs Department.

Digital Government

Navy awards nearly $500 million in task orders without competition

Acquisition staff also didn't always specify how a contractor's performance would be measured as required by procurement rules, report says.

Digital Government

Cyber Commander New A.F. CIO

The Air Force said President Obama will nominate Maj. Gen. William T. Lord for promotion to a three-star rank and a new assignment as the service's chief information officer and chief of warfighting integration.

Digital Government

Opposition to Obama's call to cancel navigational system growing

Congress and geospatial specialists say the administration's proposal to kill the decades-old Loran system would remove a needed backup system for GPS.

Digital Government

Hot GPS Meeting This Week

Former Secretary of Defense James Schlesinger will chair a <a href=http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2009/pdf/E9-9880.pdf>meeting</a> of the National Space Based Positioning, Navigation and Timing Advisory Committee Advisory Board at the Chevy Chase Pavilion Hotel in Washington on May 14 and 15. I have a feeling it will be a hot one.

Digital Government

Debate heats up over cancellation of GPS backup system

Obama calls for cutting a decades-old electronic navigation system while GAO warns delays in satellite launches threaten the viability of GPS.

Digital Government

The AHLTA Definition Contest

As dedicated <em>What's</em> fans know, AHLTA, the Defense Department's electronic health record system, used to be known as an acronym standing for the Armed Forces Health Longitudinal Technology Application.

Digital Government

Familiar Faces On Baker's Bench

At the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee hearing on the nomination of <a href=http://techinsider.nextgov.com/2009/03/waiting_on_va.php>Roger Baker as chief information officer</a> of the Veterans Affairs Department on May 6, committee chairman Daniel Akaka, D-HI, asked Baker to introduce any of his friends in the audience.